Drug Enforcement Administration

DEA destroys more than 16,000 pounds of surrendered prescriptions

NEWARK, N.J. – DEA New Jersey Division Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson announced that New Jersey residents turned in 16,127 pounds, or 8 tons, of expired, unused and unwanted prescriptions during DEA’s 17th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on April 27. Nationally, more than 469 tons of prescription medications were collected at nearly 6,400 sites across the country.

On Saturday, April 27, 2019, 207 police departments throughout New Jersey participated in the collection of the prescriptions at 220 collection sites. Residents were able to come to the various drop-off locations to safely dispose of these potentially dangerous prescription drugs. Over the course of all Take Back Day events, New Jersey residents surrendered more than 260,752 pounds or 130.3 tons of medications. Nationally, more than 11,816,393 pounds, or 5,908 tons, have been collected since the program’s inception in 2010.

“The current opioid crisis continues to take too many lives, and many people get their first pills to abuse from the home medicine cabinet,” said Special Agent in Charge Gibson. “I want to thank the residents of New Jersey for cleaning out their medicine cabinets, and I would also like to recognize all the law enforcement partners who participated, as well as the New Jersey National Guard who assisted in the collection and destruction of the collected prescriptions.”

“The ever-increasing public support and continuously growing numbers of partners and collection sites are a true testament to the value of DEA’s National Prescription Drug Take Back program,” said Acting DEA Administrator Uttam Dhillon. “Just as DEA and our law enforcement partners are committed to ending the opioid epidemic, our communities recognize that this is a pervasive and heartbreaking crisis. DEA Take Back Day gives every American a way to help by simply cleaning out their medicine cabinets.”

Complete results for DEA’s spring Take Back Day are available at www.DEATakeBack.com. DEA’s next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is October 26, 2019.